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diff --git a/19005.txt b/19005.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7020db3 --- /dev/null +++ b/19005.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1385 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rose of Dawn, by Helen Hay + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Rose of Dawn + A Tale of the South Sea + +Author: Helen Hay + +Illustrator: John La Farge + +Release Date: August 7, 2006 [EBook #19005] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROSE OF DAWN *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Illustration] + +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +THE ROSE OF DAWN +A TALE OF THE SOUTH SEA + +By HELEN HAY + +With a Drawing by +JOHN LA FARGE + +NEW YORK +R. H. RUSSELL +MDCCCCI + +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Copyright, 1901, by +R. H. RUSSELL + +University Press John Wilson and Son +Cambridge, U.S.A. + +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + + +THE ROSE OF DAWN +A TALE OF THE SOUTH SEA + + +Somnolent, vast, inert, the darkness lay +Waiting for dawn. Across the ocean stirred +A luminous haze, not light, but whispering light, +So softly yet, the islands had not heard. +The mystery of sleep was in the trees +And on the weary stars. A little cry +That broke the silence seemed a sacrilege. +Then thro' the palm trees glided like a ghost +A dusky form; the curtain of the dark +Was rent with life, the forest brought forth men. + +Instinct with morning every eye was bright, +Tho' sleep so lately lay across their lids. +No sinister intent had called them forth +Upon the shadows. May held out her hands, +And all the men who dared the dangerous sport +Were faring where the great bonita played,-- +Strong shining fish below the mid sea waves. +Upon the beach beneath the paling moon +The boats were launched. Amid the busy stir +One man stood idle; as a chief might order, +He bade the youths prepare his long canoe. +With folded arms he gravely watched the rest +And gave them salutation haughtily. +Uhila[1] was he called, and in his veins +There ran a slender stream of northern blood. +He bore upon his old and indolent heart, +Scarred with the sins of war, a white device. +Taka, daughter of chiefs and Fiji's pride, +Lily of maidens, was betrothed to him; +Desirous eyes kinged him with envy's crown. + +[Footnote 1: The lightning.] + +Scraping across the beach the boats were launched, +And as they touched the waves, they seemed to take +New shape and dignity with that caress +Of little lapping ripples round the prow. +Uhila led the fleet as one who knew +His right by reason of his age and skill. +The little isle seemed now a sleeping maid +Kirtled in green, the beach her snowy breast +Veined with the purple brooks that sought the sea. +Uhila watched it fade below the blue, +Crouched in the bow, his grizzled chin in hand, +Taking his ease, while small Kuma, keen-eyed, +Famed for his daring, paddled lustily. +The dawn had not yet broken, and the soft +Beautiful haze that veils the birth of day +Hung on the water. Loath to break the peace, +Men gave their orders in hushed tones, the clean +Chill of the morning wrapt their naked bodies. +Then, as a slow blush mounts the cheek, a light +Breathed from the sea, and all the air seemed warm +As at the touch of spring, a violet streak, +A pale leaf green, a golden, and a rose +Broke in the sky, and morning was revealed. +With a shrill cry, young Kuma raised his hand +And pointed where with dip and shriek and wheel +A flock of sea birds hovered; all the rest +Echoed the call and bending to the paddle +Shot o'er the waves, for now the fish were gained. +Uhila grasped his rod, and at the stern +Tossed out the shining hook, with laugh and cheer +A glint of silver flashed, then all the air +Was gemmed with streaming stars. They came from deeps; +From azure fairer than its mother sky +Clouded with dazzling whitenesses of foam. +Luck to their fishing: + + Now, fair and remote +A scattered emerald from a broken chain +Lying below the bending breast of heaven, +The village had awakened,--once again +Serene Kambara, island of the south, +Exhaled its light upon the light of heaven. +The verdure seemed to shine with lucent green, +The red hibiscus burned with inward flame, +And in the village happy song and shout +Proclaimed the day was fair. Blue upon blue +The bright waves glittered like a shattered star +Set in the silver crescent of the sand. +The palm trees' plume uplifted dauntlessly +To call the morning. At the forest's brim +The day was made alive by human flowers, +Sweet maidens who against the emerald +Showed warm and brown in purest harmony. +The fierce bright flame that is the tropic sea +Burned on their eyes and called them to its heart. +Like eager sea birds they forgot the land, +And, happy as the amorous waves, they gave +Their slim brown bodies to the sea's embrace. +They found them driftwood and astride they leapt +The feathered breakers, one with daring skill +Curved her sweet length to lie within the palm +Of a strong wave, and so was brought to shore. +"Taka," they cried, "has beaten us;" and all, +Shaking the bright drops from their shining hair, +With laugh and song sprang to the beach again, +Sunning themselves to languor ere they made +Their pretty toilet. +Some had gathered flowers +In fragrant wreaths, and others brought the grave +Work of the morning. Yet because the wine-- +Sun of the South--gilds even toil, it seemed +A poet's pastime. Scarlet beans they threaded +Later to lie about some golden throat. +Deftly they wove fine mats, and deftly twisted +Bright witchery to adorn themselves, and snare +Men's eyes. With little songs they pearled the air. +Hush! it is Taka singing:-- + + "Far away + In a fountain dwelt a maiden; + When the silver moon was high + She was glad, but heavy laden + Was she when its light must die. + Far away. + + "Far away + Came a stranger brave to love her, + Loved her when the moon was high; + When the moon was pale above her + Love grew pale and like to die + Far away. + + "Far away + From the fountain's mist he drew her + Happy while the moon was high, + Waning, fled she, her pursuer + Held her back, and saw her die + Far away." + +"'Tis a sad song for morning," cried the maids-- +"And for a bride. Come, Hopa, sing of laughter." +Hopa sang:-- + + "Little brown streams, + Slim as my fingers, + Running and laughing + While the light lingers, + Have you no dreams, + Little brown streams? + + "Little brown maidens, + Laughing and weeping, + Singing and dancing, + All the night sleeping, + Have you no lovers, + Little brown maidens?" + +Afar there sounded in the mellow breeze +The rhythmic movement of the maidens' toil; +Before them on the sand a snowy sheet +Lay spread,--the tapa cloth; tutunga trees +Yield them their inner bark, and lightly then +The maidens tap the fibres till they join, +Made firm with scented gums and bright with dyes, +To form a fabric that a bride might choose, +And this was for a bride. Among the rest +One maiden shone; a moon beside her stars, +Taka, the fair. Her father was the chief +Of this small village. His the splendid store +Of kava bowls for which the isle is famed, +The shining fish-hooks, fairest of mother of pearl, +Great mats from ancient days with border rare +Of crimson feathers, cruel tragic spears, +Sweet unguents, necklaces of pearly shells +Envied by maidens, and above them all +Bales of the snowy tapa, made by hands +Subtle, wise hands of women, over whom +The earth had long laid flowers. + + In the land +Where history is but a charming tale +Droned by old men at twilight, future days +Pleasantly certain as the next repast, +Where gods and goddesses appear as birds, +Trees, plants or moonlight, gently rising tide, +And shining girdle of leaves,--all homely things, +Which hold the people's hearts.--In this fair land +Taka was born. Thro' sixteen years of moon +And tropic sun she blossomed in the air. +Chilled by no frost, the world unconsciously +Mirrored her sweetness back to her. The sun +Had kissed her skin to a warm topaz; rare +As dusky wealth of Autumn, her sweet breast, +Gleaming and bare, was hung with ropes of flowers +Yellow and white, and in her curling hair +Glimmered the pure gardenia. All the braves +Wished her for wife, but old Akau the chief, +Knowing Uhila's prowess and the blood +Left by an English forbear in his veins, +Knowing that Taka too could boast, or mourn, +A foreign ancestry, had lately pledged +His daughter to this brave, and now the village +Made preparations for the marriage. There +By the warm sea the maidens paid their court +To Taka, who so soon would leave their gay +Indifferent frolic lives to wed the grave +Stern chief. She did not falter at the choice. +Love which the maidens sang was but a word; +She wished no better fate than to be mated +To a strong warrior whom her heart held dear +As friend to kind Akau. So she waited. +In her slim hands she held a polished cup, +The shell of cocoanut, which caught the light +Like a brown pool. The toil of many days +Had turned the tawny shade to warmest black +In gradual depths as shaded Taka's cheek; +With perfumed oil her fingers gave caress +And waked the hidden pictures in the grain, +The yellow sand, the dusky amber girl, +The brown perfected in the shining globe. +Earth's monotones are justified in this. +Close to her lolled small Hopa, blithe and gay +As a young cricket, teasing all the rest +With her sharp wit; often she dropped her work-- +The threading of bright flowers into wreaths-- +To look across the waves, and suddenly +She called, "A sail, a little sail," and all +Followed her pointing fingers. Far away, +Tossed like a feather, black against the sky, +Hovered a tiny craft, its unknown lines +Marked it as stranger, and the maidens all +Curiously watched its coming to the shore. + +All night the little shell with ceaseless dip +And pause, and rise and dip again, had borne +The trackless trade winds. Tui Tua Kau, +"King of the Reefs," had ventured over far +From Tonga's shore. Caught by a wanton gale, +His idle racing, lengthened in a whim +To cheat his laughing mates, grew a wild flight. +The frail canoe seemed, on the angry sea, +A sweet rose petal blown across the night. +Yet wisely now the winds had mind to crown +Their joyous undertaking, and upon +The shores of Fiji's isles they drew their prize. +The maidens on the shore had seen afar +The stranger's coming, and the songs were stilled +To hush of expectation. Even so +A prince might come to claim his kingdom, lone, +In a frail craft, with weary eyes, and hair +Crowned with a fading wreath, more beautiful +Than all their lovers, slender, strong and young. +With one lithe spring he gained the yellow sand +And caught the boat and drew it with a swing +High on the beach,--its movement seemed alive. +His sinewy fingers loosed the flapping sail, +Gay shells clinked musical against the mast, +And all the maidens, timorous as birds, +Laughed at the sound with shy averted face. +Then straight and slender as the cocoa palm, +Straight as its shaft and crowned with shining hair, +The stranger lifted up his head. The wreath, +Faded yet still alive thro' ocean's breath, +Drooped o'er his brows. His flashing sun-bright eyes +Struck thro' the group of girls as shoots a dart, +And caught and quivered in sweet Taka's breast. +More noble than the rest, she scorned to fear, +And graceful in her modesty she faltered, +Then came to meet and greet the stranger guest. +Erect she faced him, o'er her brow the frail +Curves of the crest she wore, antennae-wise, +Trembled a little. As a maid beseems, +Her eyes drooped from his gaze, yet not too soon +To miss the gleam with which he caught the first +Flash of her beauty. With that glance he gained-- +Half conscious of a gladness--that this maid +Was still for winning. As the custom is +Her hair fell in twin braids, and were she wed +They had been sacrificed to that estate. +Maiden she was, his eyes caressed the sign +Black o'er the topaz beauty of her breast. +The stranger spoke. "Malua am I called; +I hold for title Tui Tua Kau. +Over the violent seas, beneath the frown, +Cold and untoward, of a starless sky, +The waves of chance have borne me; thro' the night +Around me and above the pitiless trades +Were blind with darkness, blown like maiden's hair +Across my face. As palm trees beaten by wind, +The tortured breakers tossed their streaming crests, +And all the light of all my life seemed dead-- +Then--morning broke, and I behold the sun!"-- +He held her with his gaze and found her eyes-- +"On Tonga's shore I reigned a chief, and now +I am a beggar at your mercy." Then +The young pride mounting to his cheek, he cried, +"Nay, but I jested, for I come so far +To green Kambara for a lordly bowl +Fit for the kava of a chief." + + She smiled, +And with the smile Malua felt the blood +Leap in his heart, his heart inviolate +Never before so stirred 'neath woman's eyes. +"Come, then, with me," said Taka, and the beach +Stretched from their feet, a ribbon that should bind +In its white length the heaven to the earth. +With delicate step she led him to the hut +Where old Akau gave him kindly greeting. +A little in the shadow, where the gourds +And strange sweet herbs--soft musty fragrances-- +Hung swinging from the beams about her head, +Taka withdrew. Her wide eyes opened wide, +And, lightly folded on her golden breast, +Her two hands lay like flowers. + + In the light +Bright as a sun god sat Malua listening +With greatest reverence to the aged man, +Who spoke to him of ancient, long dead things +While he displayed his wealth of burnished cups +Out of the splendid eld. "My son," he said, +"Yours is dim future, mine the deathless past; +Heroes have died for me and yet shall die, +And all the glory of the virgin earth +Yields up its sweets to me, for now I rest +And stretch my withered sinews in the sun +And wait for peaceful death; because your lips +Are innocent, and dawn is in your eyes, +I give you of my store the fairest treasure. +After my Taka, you have won my heart." +In his strong hand he laid a bowl; for this +The ages had paid toll, soft lightnings shone +From its brown glory, carved most royally. +He raised the kava bowl aloft, the sun +Struck on its shining rim, and straight as a spear +Shivered the dusk where Taka stood. The light +Lay on her swelling throat, and showed her eyes +Starred like a tropic night. The stranger's hand +Trembled a little, and his quick-drawn breath +Carried a message from his breast to hers. +They left the hut together. From the clear +Bright heat of noon they turned, and took their way +Into the greenly silent forest. Leaves +Flickered above wet blossoms, simple sounds +Of homely labor borne upon the breeze +Made them the more alone. They spoke of Love, +A mighty word to ease the strange new pain +Born in their hearts. + + Sudden the path grew wide-- +A little space deprived of flowers and life-- +"The house of sandal wood," said Taka, pointing, +And there, the last home of a chief, it lay. +White shells and snowy pebbles girt him round +In his great mould of clay, and all his spears +And clubs of war kept vigil, showing still +His might in battle. Shrill the parrot's scream +Rang on the desolation, and the trees +Seemed to withdraw their shadows from the place +Sacred to death, the violent crime of war. +A little shadow darkened Taka's heart, +Could this sweet world contain both death and love? +She sought Malua's eyes to be assured +That love lives always. + + He had gone before +To hold the leaves for her to pass, and softly +She came, and like a golden butterfly +Her small hand fluttered down upon his arm. +He caught his breath as tho' the leaping blood +That fled before this touch were very flame, +Then slowly, slowly turned, and in her eyes +Gave up his heart's desire. No word was said. +She knew not that she loved, he only knew +She was the moon of women; but their hearts, +Wiser than they, had flowered into one. +Then as she passed beneath the swinging leaves, +He caught the wreath wherewith on Tonga's shore +The maids had crowned him "King of Love and Beauty," +And cast it from him with a high disdain +Of token other than from Taka's hand. +She laughed to see it, and her step was light +Along the flowery way. + + Love in this land +Grows into perfect stature as the swift +Sweet growth of nature. In these gracious souls +Love stood full-armed, godlike, from birth. Their lips +Whispered of life and laughter, but their hearts, +Singing together, told each other clear: + +"Ah, Love, dear Love, there is no need to say, +Catch up life's song, its lightest, merriest word, +Pledge deep the golden sun, the breeze and bird, +Draw down long lashes over happy eyes, +That none may guess the light that in them lies, +Nor with what secret smile your lips are stirred. +The moonlight is so short, so long the day, +Nay, Love, dear Love, there is no need to say." + +The whole world laughed with flowers overhead, +The sky a hollow sapphire ached with blue, +The green bright sea gave jewels to the sun, +And all the air was love that doting earth +Breathed to the sun, her lover. + + In the midst +Two radiant gods with brave, wide eyes, and hair +Crowned with the beatific spring, they stood,-- +Taka, the fair, and young Malua, fierce, +Passionate-hearted youth, and passionate youth; +Faltering before her innocent gaze, he cried, +"Dare I adore?" so crystal clear she seemed +A silver dewdrop in the rose of dawn. +And Taka, trembling: "How can he be mine, +So strong, so fair, a god with heart of flame!" +And so they strove against their hearts and lived +Long lives of hope and fear and love's sweet pain +Within a heart-beat. But the time was near! + +There in mid-forest, rimmed with leaves jade green, +All singing in the sun,--as deep and brown +As Taka's eyes,--the pool disclosed itself. +Across the clear light of the morning, showers +Of fiery jewels shone against the trees,-- +Rubies, bright sapphires, purple amethyst, +Topaz, fierce opal, grass-green emeralds +Flitting and darting;--were they only birds! +Flower made bird or bird made flower, they seemed +To eyes newborn upon a world of love. +The air was heavy with strange scents, the old +Familiar perfumes seemed so rarely sweet, +The jasmine was the very breath of love. +And when they rested on a flowery bank, +And Taka wove the red hibiscus wreath +To crown Malua, as he gazed at her, +Stretched at her feet, his chin upon his hand, +The whole long world had waited but for this. + +(_Weaving the rosy wreath._) + "My dream was of thee at sunrise + With light steps over the sea. + Lonely upon the mountain, + I woke from my sleep for thee." + +(_Weaving the rosy wreath._) + "The wild dark rocks were round me, + The flowery maids were gone; + I woke, thou--bright as lightning + Beside me--waited the dawn. + + "Weaving the rosy wreath, + I weave my life in a dream. + Thou camest through dawn on the sea, + Red flower on a sunlit stream." +(_Weaving the rosy wreath._) + +She laid the scarlet wreath upon his hair. +"My King," she whispered, and Malua's eyes-- +Boy, spite of all his battles--filled with tears +Wrung from his burdened heart. He caught her hand; +The lake was hushed with noon-tide, far away +A fond bird starred the forest with a cry. +Then Taka turned, and in her eyes a light-- +The light of summer moon in water still-- +And in her face the glamour of moon and star, +On which the crimson petals of her lips +Lay trembling, eager wings to her new soul, +Love was confessed. + + The day went swiftly on. +Malua left her side to gather fruits +For a love feast together. In a dream +His heart had moved, and like a child he longed +To prove it real by sweet familiar ways, +Serving his fairest lady while their laughter +Fell on the air like music. Taka, waiting +On the green bank his coming, told her heart: +"Not for his beauty only, tho' his eyes +Burn into mine more beautiful than the night, +Not for the corded muscle in his arm +Which broke a great branch that would stay my path, +Not for his voice, a murmur of soft seas, +Nor all the gracious ways he knows so well, +Not for his love that breaks within his eyes,-- +All these are dear, are dearer than my life, +But for himself I love him," Taka dreamed. +"To be his sister, nay, his mother then, +To welcome him from hunting with my eyes, +To fight his battles with the other women, +To triumph in his triumphs, yet perchance +Be happier if when vanquished he would come +Safe in my arms for shelter. If I might +But suffer for his sake and see him stand +Stronger and happier--he should never guess-- +But I might sometimes touch his hair and know +The curls that clung around my fingers mine, +Bought by my pain as he, Malua, mine. +Just so the heaven belongs to each small star +Fixed by its gracious power eternally." + +Thro' the late afternoon Uhila came. +The Earth was idle, on her knees her hand +Opened, relaxed and empty, and her eyes +Closed to the ardent sun. The village slept, +Waiting for evening's cool. Uhila came; +Over his shoulder like a silver shroud +He brought the gleaming fish. The purple shadows +Lay in soft pools about the palms; the leaves, +Listless as weary love, hung motionless, +And the hot green gave color to the air, +The world viewed through an emerald. +He came, +And to Akau's hut he brought his gift, +A mighty fish to grace the wedding feast. +And where was Taka? All the gorgeous day +She had been absent, old Akau told; +And of the stranger, wanderer, with eyes +Lit by the fires of youth, Akau told, +Like a glad wind of morning bearing spring, +Spring with the heart of summer, and his brow +Crowned with the calm white flowers of innocence. +Uhila knew, in days long past he too +Had wandered thro' the forest in the glory +And glow of youth. + + With mouth set stern and grim +He followed to the pool. His heart was stirred +With turbulent emotions. She was his,-- +Taka was his, the blossom that should cheer +The winter of his age. His springing step +Was stealthy as a tiger's, and the way +Was clear before him. Rightly was he named +The lightning; keen and cruel he would flash +Into this sky of love, death in his hand. +The path was strewn with little crimson flowers +Scarlet festooned the trees, or was it blood +That danced within his eyes? His thoughts were vague: +Death, mercy, love, but strongest was desire +Merely to see and satisfy his fear. +Sudden he saw them, and he hid his eyes +Before the sight, then strained to see again +Taka, her arms piled high with blossoms, stood, +An amber goddess of spring with flying hair +Beneath a flower-bent branch, whose leaves had caught +One of her sun-kissed curls. Malua watched her. +Laughing, she would have torn away the tress +And with the effort all the starry flowers +Drifted like snow across their bended heads, +But with a low cry he withheld her hand, +And standing where she needs must turn to see +His two arms o'er her slender shoulder laid, +With fingers little used to gentler arts +His timid touch unloosed her perfumed hair, +Too near--for aught but that her curving throat +Should be upturned to meet his sure caress, +And all the blossoms drifted thro' the air +And fell like blessings on their bended heads. + +Uhila bore no more; his heart was great +With unshed tears; their beauty and their love +Touched like soft music on his injured soul +With infinite sadness and a hopeless calm. +He left them there and sought the forest shades +To search his heart. A great nobility +Slept in his native breast, and those pale drops +Of northern blood had taught him self-control +And might of mercy. To and fro he paced, +Learning his lesson. Taka, little moon +Sent by the gods to light his loneliness, +Was his no longer. He must twist his heart, +Wried with grim pain, to smiles of pleasantness. +Ah, it was great. Uhila should be great, +Giving her to Malua as a gift, +Showing Akau how he wished no more +To wed so young a maid, and then the tears +Broke from his eyes and burned his throbbing breast. +Homeward he turned, and all the sleepy birds +Twittered good-night--and almost was he glad. +In the cool green of evening, silent now +Save for their beating hearts, the lovers came +Back to the village. In the stranger's honor +The people made a feast. The air was filled +With busy sounds of preparation. Some +Brought driftwood for the fires, some gathered flowers +To deck themselves, and all the fruitful earth +Was robbed of its delights for beauty's sake. +Before the feasting Chief Akau rose, +Grave and majestic, for the evening prayer; +Pouring libation from the kava bowl +In a deep silence, to the gods he cried, + + "Take of our offering, O you mighty gods, + Look on this people kindly, let them prosper + In health and increase. Let the fecund ground + Grant us, your creatures, life to serve you well. + Take of our offering, O you gods of war, + Let men be brave and triumph in your name. + Take of our offering, O you gods of sea, + Spare us your wrath, and in your might depart + Along the ocean to some far off shore. + Take of our offering, all you mighty gods." + +The feasting ended, round the fires they gathered, +Wise aged men telling anew their tales +Of youth, sweet purposeless youth which dreams of stars +The while it gathers weeds--of battles dire. +Their thin cold blood warmed with grim memories +Of gods they told, of goddesses with hair +Streaming across the sunset, and of dear +Women long dead, and then the maidens came, +Singing their little songs. One sang of love: + + "The breath of spring is in his hair, + He needs no crimson necklaces + To win the favor of the fair. + + "The full moon leaned to kiss his eyes, + The fairies brought him purple flowers, + The flowers of love, and made him wise. + + "The maidens die for his disdain, + His heart strikes silver lightning, + Their warm tears stir the flowers like rain. + + "The breath of love is in his hair, + He needs no crimson necklaces + To win the fairest of the fair." + +Another sang of the sad mothers, lone +In their dark homes at evening, while beyond +The limitless twilight on some field of war +Their hearts lie dead. + + "O my men, my men! + Keen in the rain and sunshine + For glorious splendid deeds, + You are gathered as idle weeds. + + "O my men, my men! + The mighty gods were jealous, + Your virtues shone like a star; + The enemy came from afar! + + "O my men, my men! + Vengeance shall follow soon, + Your people shall blast the foe + Or ever the cold winds blow. + + "O my men, my men! + My life is an empty shell, + No one has heard my moan, + I sit in the dark alone." + +Then of the gods they sang,--a moonlight song: + + "Sleep, O soft little winds, + Restless whispering grass, + Reeds of the water-ways sway not, + Sleep, that the gods may pass. + + "Deepen, you dreams of the sleepers, + Veil you, O fire of the moon. + Darken, you silver of stars, + Sleep, for the gods come soon. + + "Sleep, for the gods who sleep not + Pass on the midnight's breath; + Mystical, magical, secret, + Sleep, for to wake is death." + +And after singing came the dance; the brown +Lithe women decked with bright fantastic hues +Wavered into the circle of the light. +Kneeling, they wove their spells. As gracious flowers +Swayed by the winds of evening, they were blown +By breezes of desire. The eye was filled +With luxury of soft motion and the sound +Of soft monotonous chanting charmed the ear. +Then in their midst came Taka, and she stood, +Waiting the signal. Slow she raised her arms, +Slow as tho' ages hung upon her hands +Heavy with burdened love. The music hushed. +Deep in the mystery of her steady eyes +Lingered the secret of the world, and then +Laughter and light came dancing from her smile. +Her fingers fluttered on the harp of love, +And every chord uttered itself again +Within some dusky heart. The earth was still. +The warm night air was strong with heavy scent +Of oil upon the dancers and the flowers +That decked their breasts and hair. Malua's soul +Fainted beneath the load of so much love, +And when the dance was finished, and her eyes +Held him for one long second ere she smiled +And stole away, he knew for death or life +His spirit lay within her golden hands. + +Woe for Uhila! As the twilight glow +Faded in soft immeasurable plains +Of darkness, so the beauty in his heart +Faded in clouds of wrath. The great fire blazed-- +A ruby in the raven hair of night-- +And clear across the flames Uhila saw +His rival, garlanded with blossoms, pale, +Calm as a happy lover. Could he smile +Over his empty hands and meekly bow-- +Uhila bow!--to taste a stranger's whip! +Death snapped the sparks, and Vengeance hurled the flames. +Like blood the fire fell o'er the bare young heart, +And he who watched in one mad bound foresaw +How blood indeed might flash across that breast. +The high resolve grew dim in that fierce light, +"'Tis noble, strong;" then, in a stab of keen +Humor, he saw again a native brave +Decking his naked body with the coat +Crowned with the hat of some sea-faring man,-- +Aping the civilization of his stride +Till his new prowess fell to comrade's jeers. +So with a tiger heart it were to wear +A grave forgiveness of this wanton wrong. +The primal lust had burst the slender bar, +Weak white man's morals. Now to slay and slay. + +Darkling, he fixed Malua with his eyes, +Noting each shadow of his changing thoughts, +When the dear dreams centred on Taka, dreams +Dimming his sight. Holding his lips apart, +He slowly rose, Uhila following, +For in the dark the music of her face +Smote on the boy till he could bear no more +The feasting and the firelight; silently +He rose and stole away. The night was still, +And "Taka, Taka, Taka," rang his soul +Against the stars. He felt infinity +Above him brood, and knew the mighty gods, +Who once in every lifetime drop an hour +Of their remembrance fraught with godlike bliss +To luckless man, had turned on him their eyes. +Unconsciously his feet retraced the path +To the dark pool where joy had birth that day. +The scents that wake when the cool dusk begins +Lapped him luxuriously; the heavy sweet +Of passionate gardenia,--kiss made flower,-- +White as his turbulent love, was as the crown +And climax of the jasmine stars that breathed +His love in placid day, and when he paused +Beside the pool, the forest held its breath. + +"O sweet, O beautiful!" Malua cried, +His young eyes blazing to the tropic night. +"Never before, since all the gods were young, +Was woman loved as I love Taka." Then, +Caught in a very ecstasy of love, +He laid his arms about a slender tree, +White in the moonlight, and his fevered cheek +Pressed on its cooling stem. With broken music +Shaken from his breast, he cried on Taka,-- +Little happy words that mothers whisper +Above their sleeping babes. "If love could find +A way to utter love without her lips!" +Her lips, her eyes, the music of her voice-- +Death would be easy on her golden heart. +He pictured her at twilight in the door +Of their far home, with eager arms outstretched +To welcome him from toil; how she would stand +A queen among the other women, crowned +With crimson flowers. How had he won her, he +A stranger to her people and her blood! +For in her veins the stream ran pale, but, "Ah," +He cried, "my kiss shall burn it red again. +White she may be, a queen, my queen, she is, +And still my slave in fetters of my love." + +Uhila watched him from the shadow. +Gods! +How young he was! as Vave, the swift-footed +Splendidly strong, an innocent god of war. +The morn with chilly lips laid myriad kisses +About his beauty, slipped thro' jealous leaves +Dripping with silver and fantastic fingers +Reached to caress him from the amorous trees. +Hither and forth he paced; Uhila's eyes +Ached with his hatred of the sight; at length +"Taka," Malua cried, and stretched his arms +Rigid in air, his face against the sky. +The goad was in Uhila's soul, he leapt +Into the moonlight and upon his foe. +Fixed to the ground, they strove as giant trees +Tossing fierce branches in a storm; their wrath +Smote on them like a tempest, hot with hate. +Malua knew a curse was in the hands +That sought his throat, and in the blazing eyes +Close to his own. Life would defend fair life +As chief and Taka's lover. Round the shoulders +Dark and strong, straining to his heaving breast, +He threw his arms, and locked in that embrace +They stood a moment, breathing with the quick +Sharp catch of weary runners. Then a turn-- +Raising his knee, Uhila strove in vain +To throw his enemy. Upon their heads +And swaying bodies lay the silver light +Of the bright moon. The great night seemed to pause +Chin upon hand to watch the struggle, air +Hushed to retain the hoarse and laboring sobs +Such strain brought forth. Their shining bodies, oiled +In honor of the feast, granted no hold +To the fierce gripping arms. + + Then suddenly +Uhila sprang aside and grasped a branch, +A rough, harsh weapon--for they were unarmed. +Wary they watched each other's eyes, like beasts +Stealthy, retreating, circling with heads low, +Bodies bent for the catch. Malua sprang +Close to Uhila, caught his murderous hand, +And with the branch between them, all its thorns +Tearing their breasts, they strove once more. The moon +Glittered in troubled ripples, they had come +Under the shadow of the trees, the dark +Goaded Uhila's soul anew, his blood, +Blazing with conflict, gave him mad-man's strength +And devil's skill. His straining form relaxed, +Heavily slipping earthward; ere Malua +Could gain fresh hold upon his fainting foe, +Uhila with a twist had laid him low, +Knee on his breast, lean fingers at his throat +Seizing his life. + + Malua's eyes grew dim, +The gentle stars seen faint thro' hanging leaves +Wavered uncertainly; his brain seemed black, +Confused with horrid death, the dewy moss +He lay on failed beneath him. Suddenly +Hanging upon the brittle rim of death, +His outstretched hand, gripping the scattered leaves, +Closed on a sharp stone, instinct more than brain +Showed him the way; he raised his weapon, struck +And struck and struck again. +The night looked down +Waning, and saw thro' tangled boughs a still, +Dead figure on the troubled earth. All stained +With crimson blood, there lay a crimson wreath, +And thro' the forest stole a dusky shade +Fleeing he knew not where save that he 'scaped +Death, that was lying by the forest pool. + +At dawn the weary boy, who thro' the night +Had cried his love and anguish to the dark, +Wandering half crazed thro' forest deeps unknown, +Feeling upon his throat the hand of hate, +Feeling upon his heart the still more potent +Fingers of love, came to the open shore +Waiting for day. The restless, eager foam, +Stretching white arms around the sleeping earth, +Woke his great love anew. The loneliness +Of open spaces set his hungry soul +Dreaming of Taka, Taka who should come +And fill the empty world for him. The sky +Paled at the thought. The dawn was stealing near, +Glimmering faintly on the edge of night. +He could delay no longer; like a thief +He must secure his jewel in the dark. +In the vast pause that presages the morn +He came to Taka's door. Ajar it stood, +And on the mats within he saw revealed +The pure young oval of her perfect face. +"Taka, my little one," Malua whispered, +And thro' her dreams "Malua" passed her lips, +Slipping insensibly to waking. So +She saw him at the door and came to him, +Her dewy dreams still warm within her eyes, +And gave her face to passionate caress. +Then with soft, broken words he told again +His love, and after when her heart was full +Of glad acceptance, as a flash of fire +Searing his image on her soul, he told +How blood had paid the price of love. + + She heard, +And daylight ebbed before her eyes to faint +White mist, then refluent turned and smote +Her heart's eyes with the horror of the truth. +Uhila dead. Uhila with the smile +That woke for her alone. Her thoughts, like leaves +Blown by cold winds, were scattered, and the words +"Uhila dead" was but a symbol grim +Of darkness. All the past, her happy life +Flower in the sun, her home, and all the dear +Familiar duties, all her life to come +Woven with thoughts of kind Uhila, all +Struck to the ground by murder. In her blood +The pale drops cried to heaven against the wrong, +Wrong to her people and her love, till now +So beautiful. + + Malua knew her pain, +And how upon its verdict hung his life. +Death's flame had touched the golden rose of love. +If it be dross or gold, the test should tell. +The black gulf night that lies 'twixt dawn and dawn, +Deepened by darker sin,--could frail love, tired +With passion, hope to bridge the perilous way? +His brain cried, "No," his heart, "Ah, Gods, but yes +Or I shall die." + + He laid a tender arm +About the shrinking child and drew her forth +Along the forest path. She did not hear +The morning birds who blithely welcomed day, +She did not see the dew upon the leaves, +Glamour of dawn, but dazed with love and pain, +Yielding to that she knew not, kept the way +Towards the forest pool. + + It seemed to them, +Waiting the unutterable moment of their loss +Or utmost gain, as tho' the swinging earth +Was emptied of all life, the very air +Seemed hollow and unearthly, breathless pause +On a great brink. They reached the pool, and Taka +Gathered her senses till her eyes were clear +As shining wells of truth. She leaned no more +Helpless upon Malua, tho' his arm +Circled her still. Before them on the path, +Noble and dead, with mute hands pleading, eyes +Subtle with secrets of eternity, +Waited Uhila. + + In a moment's space +Malua knew the utter pangs of death +Strong as his soul. And Taka must be free, +Free to decide between the mighty dead +And him, the weakest of all living men. +He spoke no word, the blood of youth once more +Fought with the skill, the power, the eloquence +Of great familiar age. If Taka drew +From out his arms and love a heart-beat's time, +She had decided, and Uhila won. +This the boy knew. Taka had seen him, Ah! +Her woman's heart in pity and distress +Shivered as tho' cold death had laid a hand +Upon her brow. Malua felt a hell +Deep as the world, and then--the sky, pale stars, +Rose dawn, unfathomed heaven rocked in his heart +With tumult of his glory. Taka turned, +Drew closer in his arm, and raising up +Her flowery face smiled in his eyes. + 'Twas done-- +Death, life and passionate passion burned away +In the white flame of love. + Uhila lay +Vanquished, forgotten. Turning to the sea, +Taka, Malua, children of the sun, +Went forth to meet the sunrise and the day. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rose of Dawn, by Helen Hay + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROSE OF DAWN *** + +***** This file should be named 19005.txt or 19005.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/0/0/19005/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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